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Invictus Beat Sheet
Beat Sheets are ways to gain extra beats (experience) to spend on your character, by delving further into the character's nuances and by giving storytelling staff more handles to interact with your character. This Beat Sheet is available to members of the Invictus. Non-Invictus may receive up to five Beats from questions on this sheet, if they are appropriate and have not been answered elsewhere. Invictus Beat Sheet (Fifteen Beats) 'Lineage '(One Beat) Despite being a meritocracy, the Invictus places great value on an individual's lineage. How far back you're capable of reciting your lineage, whether you belong to a bloodline (proving that you have raised your blood to an elite status, beyond that of the rest of your clan), a blooded line (in which your sire, and their sire, and so on back as far as you can name were all Invictus), or an established House, all have bearing on the expectations other Kindred of Quality have of you. What can you recite of your lineage? (One Beat) 'Title '(Three Beats) Titles are vital to the Invictus - they tell others who you are, what you do, and how important you are within the covenant. All Invictus have a title of Esteem - Miss or Master for paiges, Mister or Madam for full members, or Alder for elders (generally 150+ years old, or of blood potency high enough that they can no longer feed on human blood). Knights replace these with Sir or Dame. Meisters replace these with Meister. Most Invictus also have one or more titles of Function, which describes their 'job' in the covenant. 'Silent' titles are those which are held but never referred to. When multiple titles of Function are held, the most relevant is used for terms of address, with the exception of those marked 'supersedes': these are always used, whether relevant or not. *Advisor, a member of the Primogen council; *Advocate, a public relations specialist; *Almoner, who cares for the less fortunate; *Amicus Curiae, a sort of archivist who makes formal record of important events, frequently serving as a sort of roving Notary-slash-Judex between multiple cities; *Archon, a Hound; *Au Pair, who trains neonates in necessary skills of etiquette and survival; *Catechist, a member of the secret police (silent); *Commissioner, a resource and investment manager; *Councilor, a member of the city's Inner Circle (supersedes); *Executor, a neutral party who travels to where the work is conduct important or controversial tasks such as overseeing Monomacy or preparing for a Grand Elysium; *Glossator, a neonate who helps elders adjust to important changes in technology or thinking (silent); *Groom, a keeper and trainer of herds, mortal or animal; *Interpreter, a translator and subterfuge specialist; *Judex, a judge and professional arbiter of disputes (supersedes; usually have prior experience as an Advocate, Interpreter, Notary, or Senator); *Knight, a soldier sworn to an established Order of Knighthood; *Librettist, a connoisseur of arts and entertainments, responsible for event planning or detecting forgeries; *Meister, an acknowledged expert and instructor who oversees a Guild (appends to other titles of function, e.g. Meister Speaker); *Minister, a Herald (supersedes; often trained as Interpreters or Speakers); *Misericordia, a troubleshooter and cleaner who deals with major threats to the Invictus or the Traditions (silent); *Notary, a professional witness who oversees oaths, oral journalists (requires the Notary Merit); *Player, a professional artist or performer; *Prince, the Kindred who holds Praxis; *Priscus, the most respected member of a clan. Requires no training; *Proctor, who enforces the will, decrees and orders of important Invictus throughout the covenant; *Pursuivant, a bonded messenger; *Reeve, a Sheriff (supersedes; usually trained as an Archon); *Secretary, an administrator of Guilds at the city level, who advises Meisters in discipline and instruction and verifies any claim to a title of function; *Senator, a philosopher and advisor, usually specializing in spiritual and occult matters; *Seneschal, the second-in-command/major domo/grand vizier to the Prince (supersedes; usually trained as Speakers, Notaries, or Stewards); *Soldier, a professional warrior, mercenary, or assassin; *Speaker, a specialist in etiquette, diplomacy, and negotiation; *Spy, reporting back inside information from every covenant, clan, bloodline, faction and court (silent); *Steward, either a preserver of valuable artifacts, or a caretaker for elders in torpor; *Technologist, a skilled investigator and occultist who studies vampiric capabilities; *Vauntcourier, a nomadic role that acts like a grand-scale Harpy and Herald; *Whip, who represents and motivates a clan (supersedes; often trained as Interpreters or Grooms). Titles of Tribute recognize Invictus who have served above and beyond the cause of duty. It is unlikely your character will have come in with an existing title of tribute - Kindred who gain such accolades have highly persuasive reasons not to leave the city in which they are so respected and move elsewhere. What are your character's titles? +/-1 Status is typical. More implies that you are aspiring, bragging about roles you're not qualified for or can't fulfill. Less implies that you're riding on your laurels. (One Beat) Function must be earned, but may be bestowed by the Inner Circle of a city or (more respectably) by a recognized Guild. This is called your provenance. If your title of function was given by an Inner Circle, your provenance is the city it was granted and the Primus of that Inner Circle. If your title of function was given by a Guild, your provenance is the guild and the city in which you studied. State your provenance. (One Beat) Make your full formal introduction. (One Beat) 'Fealty '(Three Beats) You're nobody in the Invictus until you belong to a fealty chain. In fact, you can't receive your first dot of Invictus Status until someone swears an oath to you - though this person is frequently not part of the Conspiracy of Silence themselves. Even the most powerful Invictus elders are sworn to someone - most fealty chains eventually end in the hands of one of the legitimate Eupraxus (a Daeva bloodline with only seven members worldwide). Vows of fealty are frequently for a limited duration, and it's likely that after moving to Kingsmouth your character will swear into a local fealty chain. You may wish to wait until that happens before answering these questions. Who is your patron? What largesse do you receive from them, and what tribute are you offering in return? Largesse usually takes the form of money, hunting territory, herds, titles and offices, boons, the loan of retainers, or the aid of mortal assets such as Contacts and Allies. Appropriate tribute might be voting the way your patron wants, assisting with their projects, providing confidential information from within another covenant, clan, or faction, swearing a formal, long-term oath, or even just making it publicly known that you are that person's client, and thereby gaining them the additional prestige of having a client. (One Beat) Who are your clients? What tribute do you receive from them, and what largesse are you offering in return? (One Beat) For obvious reasons, the patronage system works best within a single domain - something that's even more true in a MUSH environment. Correspondingly, take an extra beat if you have a patron or client who is a PC or named NPC in Requiem for Kingsmouth. (One Beat) 'Philosophy '(Four Beats) The Invictus runs on several core tenants. *The Purpose of Power is Power *The Elite Lead, The Masses Follow There are many avenues to power. Some pursue it within the structure of the court, striving for an overt position of authority with an eye to the throne. Others focus on power over the kine. Some seek the spotlight, while others plan to be the puppetmaster. What kind of power do you seek, and how are you pursuing it? (One Beat) *Rank Has Its Privileges *Order Above All People are not the same, and therefore they should not be treated the same or act the same. Kindred are not kine. Masters are not servants. The rich are not the poor. Everybody has their place and their own role to play. What is your role? What privileges does it give you? What responsibilities or duties does it incur? (One Beat) *You Have To Change To Stay The Same What does this adage mean to you? (One Beat) *First: the Masquerade, Then: Everything Else The Conspiracy of Silence cherishes and protects the Masquerade. What contribution do you make to the Masquerade? Describe a time you helped cover up a Masquerade breach. (One Beat) 'Etiquette '(Four Beats) Titles and terms of address are important, but the real nuances of the Invictus are in their codes of etiquette. The principles of etiquette are: *Precedence. No superior must ever be made to wait for an inferior. *Gifting. A gift demonstrates significance, effectively saying that the gift-giver believes the recipient is worthy of notice. It also gives the recipient some measure of power - refusal is an insult. *Display is about the way you dress, your behavior and body language, the way you display your wealth in both material goods and Vitae. *Respect means Invictus may never be openly rude or crass in reference to one another in any ventue. Every Invictus deserves the esteem of both her peers and her betters, and no outsider should ever have reason to think the covenant is not unified in either purpose or opinion. Give an example of each of these principles, drawn from your own Requiem. Describe how it looked to an outsider, and the deeper meaning other Invictus could draw from it. (One Beat each) Category:Invictus Category:Beat Sheets